A Recurring Nuisance
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "Don't worry Mrs Ward," James said from behind me, "I'll look after her." "Look after me, my foot," I muttered, brushing past him without a second glance. "Who's going to look after you?" "You are, Ward," he said with a grin, finding an empty carriage and entering it.
1. A Recurring Nuisance

_FIRST YEAR_

As I stepped onto platform 9 and ¾ for the first time, the excitement was palpable. Although, the excitement wasn't mine. No, it was my dad's. He was _far_ too excited for me to enter Hogwarts for the first time. Over the summer he had spoken nonstop about how life-changing the castle was. I wasn't quite sure whether to believe him or not. Dad had, once upon a time, been a professor at the school. He had retired after a few years of teaching because the job required him to be away from home for so long.

We had stepped through the wall first and I wanted to head off to explore. But I had to wait for the family who followed shortly after ours. The Potter family stepped through the wall, walking towards our side. Mr Potter was an elderly man who had been my dad's mentor. He had even told my dad that of all his students, my dad had been his favourite. The men had kept close contact through the years and I whilst I adored the Potters, I didn't adore their son.

According to mum, I had met James Potter for the first time when I was only days old. He had been born only a month or so before me, and since then, the boy had been a reoccurring nuisance in my life. I hadn't managed to shake him off my tail as we grew up. The only chance I had of doing that now, was for the pair of us to get sorted into different houses.

"Now James," I heard Mr Potter address his son. My parents looked over my things for the last time, making sure that I hadn't forgotten anything. "You remember what I've asked you to do, right?"

Mum approached me, hugging me close to her and she spoke words that I couldn't pay attention to. Instead, I watched from over mum's shoulder as the youngest Potter glanced in my direction.

"You said to make sure that I look after Ward," he answered back, grinning when he saw the annoyed look I threw his way. "Don't worry Dad, I won't let her out of my sight."

He said the last part more to annoy me, than to reassure his dad. I pulled away from mum, making sure that James saw the glare I aimed at him. The train whistle blew and we hurried off into the train.

"If you hurry now you'll be able to find a carriage," mum said as she helped me onto the train. Before I could walk back into the train, I turned to hug her.

"I love you, mum."

"Love you too, sweetheart," she said with a grin. "I can't believe you're off to Hogwarts already."

"Don't worry Mrs Ward," James said from behind me, "I'll look after her."

Mum smiled gratefully before we walked into the train to look for some empty carriages. James hung back as if to help me with my bags and I swatted his hand away.

"Look after me, my foot," I muttered, brushing past him without a second glance. "Who's going to look after _you_?"

"You are, Ward," he said with a grin, finding an empty carriage and entering it.

I had planned on walking straight past him to find my own carriage but he was having none of that. James reached out to pull my trunk away from me. Despite my resistance, James had made me walk into the carriage.

"I promised to look after you," he reminded me.

"Oh please," I scoffed, sitting down by the window. At least I knew when it was time to give up fighting. "You _never_ listen to your parents unless you know that listening to them will somehow annoy me."

He didn't bother to deny my words – he couldn't. Instead he smiled mischievously at me as he settled down next to me. Throwing him a disgruntled look, I shifted away from as train pulled slowly out of the station. I peered out of the window, waving goodbye to my parents and James did the same. He reached around me to see his parents one more time.

I settled back into my seat as the train picked up speed. "Apparently we'll be on this train for _hours_ and I don't know how long I'll be able to handle with you."

"You're speaking as if you can't stand the sight of me," he said with rolled eyes as he rose to his feet to rummage through his bag. He pulled out a brown paper bag full of sweets his dad had handed him when his mum hadn't been looking.

"Gee," I said dryly, "I wonder what gave you that idea."

He scoffed, looking through the bag to find a peppermint candy quill which he held out to me. "Take it."

"What have you done to it?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." He met my mistrusting eyes and gave me an honest smile. "Sweet things help you feel less homesick, Ward. Isn't that why you bring a these with you whenever you spend the night at mine?"

Muttering my thanks under my breath, I tried to act like I wasn't touched by his thoughtfulness. He saw right through it, running a hand through his head as he settled next to me. I struggled to unwrap the quill and James sighed, snagging it from me. He opened it with ease when there was a knocking on the carriage door. I peered around James to see the dark-haired boy standing in the doorway.

"Can I sit here?" he asked, peering down the train and looking back to us quickly, waiting impatiently for an answer.

"Who are you?" James asked rudely, handing the quill back to me.

"Sirius Black," 'Sirius' answered as if he didn't hear how rude James was being.

James glared at the boy after hearing his name and I scoffed. Sure, his family were at odds with the Blacks but what had 'Sirius' done to him? I swatted James forcefully on the chest and he winced, looking back at me to demand and explanation.

"Stop it," I hissed back. Peering around James, I ushered the boy into the carriage, "Make yourself at home."

"Thanks," Sirius grinned as he walked into the carriage, lugging his trunk after him. "The prefects are patrolling the carriage. They're looking for the person that launched a dung bomb into their carriage while they were in a meeting. I don't think they saw me but you can never be too careful."

James was outright grinning by the time Sirius had finished talking to him. "Blimey mate, it's good to meet you."

I groaned into my head; this was the beginning of a horrendous friendship.

* * *

 _SECOND YEAR_

I welcomed the weekend with open arms. Weekends meant lie ins and complete freedom with next to no lessons. Of course, with Lily Evans as a dormmate and friend, the weekends were also a time to complete homework. But once we finished our homework Lily would relax and we could spend the rest of our time goofing off.

Today was no different. When I finally woke up and made myself get out of bed I noticed that I was one of the last to wake up. All my dormmates apart from Alice who was still sleeping, were busy getting ready for the day.

"I thought you'd never wake up," Marlene teased as she approached my bed, braiding her hair. "Godric knows you sleep like the dead."

"Hurry and get changed," Dorcas called from her own bed where she was looking through her earrings, trying to decide which pair to wear today. "The last one ready has to wake Alice up."

The words were enough to have me shooting out of bed. If I was a heavy sleeper then Alice was even worse. It took _ages_ to wake the stubborn girl up. And when you did manage to wake her, she would always be in the foulest mood towards whoever woke her. Rising from my bed, I wore my slippers before approaching my trunk. Kneeling beside it, I opened it only to let out an ear-piercing screech that was loud enough to wake Alice up.

She sat up, rubbing at her eyes and looking around the dorm for the source of the sound as I scrambled away from the still open trunk. Marlene ran to my side, asking what was wrong but all I could do was point towards my open trunk. I watched in horror as a toad the size of a small rabbit jumped out of it. Marlene recoiled as the toad hopped towards us.

Lily, ever rational headed, approached the trunk and grimaced when she realised it was full of extra-large toads. Alice slid off her bed to see what all the fuss was about. She scowled as she peered into my trunk where the gross creatures were crawling all over each other. They slowly began to make their way out of my drunk, hopping around the dorm. Marlene and I shared an incredulous look; how were the three of them – Lily, Alice and Dorcas – not creeped out?

The three girls spoke between themselves before Lily cast a charm to remove the roads. That had been the intention. Instead, the toads doubled in size, multiplying rapidly. The trunk was soon overflowing and the toads were set free. And just like that, the five of us were hightailing our way out of the dorm.

"Who would do something like this?" Dorcas asked as we forcefully shut the dorm door behind us and ran down the stairs, into the common room.

I knew exactly who the culprit was and they were waiting in the common room when we arrived.

The four 'marauders' – Godric it was a stupid name – were sat in the common room, pretending to be busy talking. In fact they were waiting eagerly to see the fallout of their latest prank.

"What's the problem McKinnon?" Sirius asked from where he sat perched on the arm on the sofa. Marlene glared at him, putting two and two together.

"You girls look a little green," James called out from beside him and I narrowed my eyes.

That was it. I was going to make him regret doing something so horrible. Merlin, the boy knew that I hated toads and had done since we were five and he tried to give me one as a present. I needed to retaliate but –

If I pranked him back then I would only start a never-ending war. No, the only way to teach James Potter a lesson was to make him feel truly bad about it. And if there was one thing I'd learnt after being around the nuisance for so long, it was that tears – mine, specifically – were his weakness.

I glanced around. Lily and Marlene were currently stood before that marauders as they told them off for doing something so 'entirely pubescent'.

"Dorcas," I whispered quietly, nudging the girl stood by my side. She looked curiously at me, "Pinch me. Hard."

Her eyes widened, "What the hell? No."

"Come on," I cajoled and she rolled her eyes before reaching out to pinch me. It worked like I hoped it would. My eyes began to water at the pain as I rubbed the abused area.

"Thanks," I whispered quietly as I stepped towards Marlene, coming out from behind her.

The action caught Remus' attention who nudged Peter. The smallest marauder looked to me in concern.

"Ward," Peter began cautiously, "are you crying?"

The words were enough to gain James's attention. He brushed past his friends, coming to a stop in front of me so he could see for himself. I looked away from him, internally wondering when he became so easy to handle.

"Remus," I called out to the quiet boy, "what's the counter spell?"

He hesitated, not sure if he should answer me and looked back to James who was still busy watching me. I forced myself to blink, squeezing a tear out of my eye so it trailed down my cheek.

"Ward," James called out, sounding choked as he reached out to brush my tear away. I recoiled from him. "Why are you crying?"

"You know why," I accused, sniffling for effect. "You know I hate toads and that they terrify me – how could you –"

"I thought you outgrew it," he said apologetically and I saw no reason to correct him that I _had_ outgrown it. "I'm sorry, I'll fix it I promise. Just stop crying."

I turned away from him to hide my victorious smile and returned to Dorcas' side. She was watching me in awe and whispered that I needed to teach her how to handle them like that. I promised her that I would, but she'd need to pick a different marauder. James was mine to deal with and if we all started crying whenever he pranked us, he'd soon figure it out. I distantly heard James address a raging Lily and Marlene, asking to be let back into the dorm so that they could fix it. Alice, who had been watching the entire situation play out in silence, agreed to let them up the stairs.

Once the boys had cleared up the mess they'd made, James spent the rest of the day trailing after me, trying to get me to stop ignoring him. Merlin, the boy had no clue that I had him wrapped around my little finger.

* * *

 _THIRD YEAR_

James, the annoying bugger, had forgotten to complete an essay that was due the next day. He had assumed that I wouldn't have finished it either and whilst he wasn't wrong, I wasn't pleased with him dragging me to the tables in the corner of the common room. He had roped poor Remus into helping him with his essay and, as I sat down at the table, I sent Remus an apologetic look.

"Sorry about this," I said with a small smile.

"Don't worry about it," he assured me as I settled down, brining my half completed essay out from my bag. "Just pay me back in chocolate."

"I will," I promised with a smile as I unrolled my parchment and read through what I had written.

Picking up my quill, I continued the essay from where I had left it off, briefly questioned Remus whenever I wasn't sure of something. And Remus, bless him, answered all my questions patiently. When I looked up to ask him another question, I glanced briefly at James who wasn't working on his essay. He hadn't even written a sentence yet. He dragged _me_ away from my friends with the insistence that we'd help each other with the essay. But here he was, staring at something. What was he looking at anyway?

I followed his eyes, eyebrows rising when I realised he was watching Lily who was sat across from Frank and Alice. She laughed at whatever Frank had said, tossing her head back and her bright red hair danced in the fire light.

"Aww James," I cooed teasingly, "do you have a crush?"

He grew flustered at my words, turning to look at me with narrowed eyes. "No! I don't have a crush on Evans."

"I didn't mention Lily," I said, rolling my eyes. "How long have you been crushing on her then?"

"How many times do I have to tell you," he began forcefully, picking up his quill as he turned back to his essay. "I _don't_ have a crush on Evans."

"It's probably a good thing," I agreed, watching his shoulders tense at my words. Remus realised what I was doing and smothered his snickers behind his hand, "She's too good for you."

James pushed his chair roughly away from the table, pressing his hands to the surface as he leaned in close to me. "I'm going to make you eat your words, Ward."

I titled my head back, peering into his eyes and adopted a very Potter-esque smirk, "Prove it, Potter."

Marching away from the table, James crossed the common room with determined steps. Both Remus and I watched as he approached Lily. Remus gave me a hesitant look.

"Should you really have pushed him into doing this?" Remus asked quietly.

"He'd never have had the courage to do it otherwise," I answered back just as quietly, watching with an affectionate smile as James started to fiddle with his robe. Merlin, he really did like her. "James might seem extremely confident but when it comes to things like this, he's not. He needs a push in the right direction."

"You care for him a lot," Sirius said dropping into the seat beside me, bringing my attention away from James.

"But he's not allowed to find out," I said firmly, looking between the three marauders who were now sat around the table. They all nodded and I grinned satisfied, as I looked to my parchment, intending to get back to my essay.

"He's hopeless," Sirius sighed, draping an arm around my chair, "Just look at him."

"Oh please," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Do you honestly think you're _not_ hopeless, Black? You think that smirking in a girl's direction and then refusing to give her any attention actually works?"

"It makes me mysterious," he informed and I snorted incredulously.

"None of you know a thing about women."

"Maybe you're right, Ward," James said as he returned to the table, doing his best to hide how upset he was. There was no need to ask how it went.

"It's alright James," Remus said as he patted James' shoulder, "At least you won't spend your time hung up on what ifs."

"I guess," James muttered under his breath, sitting down in his seat and looking around the table at his friends. His eyes narrowed on Sirius and he reached out to kick his chair leg. "Move your arm."

Sirius made a show of removing his arm and I turned back to my essay, packing it up. The four boys watched me, wondering what I was doing.

"I think this is time for your 'guy' talks and I'm just going to be in the way," I explained. Rising to my feet and slinging my bag over my shoulder.

Before I could walk away from the table, I paused and walked behind James' chair. I hesitated before throwing away my pride and wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He stiffened at the unexpected gesture, eventually relaxing and making me wrap my arms tighter around him.

Before I could walk away from the table, I paused and walked behind James' chair. I hesitated before throwing away my pride and wrapping my arm around his shoulders from behind. He stiffened at the unexpected gesture before relaxing and making me wrap my arms tighter around him.

"Godric, I've known you for almost 14 years," he said gruffly, "but getting rejected by a girl is what it takes to get a hug from you."

"Oh hush," I chided, putting my chin on his shoulder. Peter had fallen silent at the unexpected hug and Remus and Sirius shared a glance. James sighed, holding my arms as I hugged him. I tried to pull away but he wasn't ready to let me go yet so I remained where I was, no matter how uncomfortable it was to be leaning over his chair like this. "She just has no idea how wonderful you are James."

* * *

 _FOURTH YEAR_

James had finally managed to get off the reserve player list and was finally playing on the team. Each game he played proved his worth as a chaser and I could tell that his talent surprised some of the spectators. But not me; I had grown up hearing _all_ about his love for the game and witnessing his talent first hand.

Today's match was no different.

James was flying through the air with ease, dodging the oncoming bludgers with the quaffle tucked under his arm. I watched him approach the hoops when I was suddenly jostled as someone squeezed into the seat beside me.

"Sorry," a male voice apologised and I turned to find Aubrey, a fifth year smiling apologetically down at me.

"No problem," I said a little confused by his sudden appearance.

I looked back to the match and felt him shuffle a little in his seat. He began to say something only to cut himself off moments later. He did the same thing three times before I took pity on him and turned my eyes away from the match to look at him.

"Did you need something?" I asked quietly.

He nodded, seeming relieved that I had spoken up. To my surprise, he leaned in close to me so I could hear him over the cheers of the crowd as he asked, "There's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend. Do you want to go?"

His sudden invitation surprised me, rendering me speechless. Aubrey waited patiently for my answer. "M-me?"

He nodded, chuckling warmly and the sound brought some colour to my cheeks which I couldn't blame on the cold. "Who else?"

"I – sure," I said with a nod, glancing away from him. "It sounds like fun."

Aubrey grinned widely, looking back to the quidditch pitch and I internally cursed myself. It sounds like fun – who the hell said something like that when a boy, especially one as handsome as Bertram Aubrey, asked you to go to Hogsmeade with them.

There was a sudden increase of cheers from the Gryffindor stand that had me scanning the pitch. And sure enough, there was James, flying towards the goal hoops. He wasn't paying attention, I realised as he headed towards the hoops and narrowly managed to avoid a bludger. I was on my feet in an instant, holding the railing in front of me in a death grip as I watched James.

A hand was put on top of mine, startling me. I looked up at Aubrey who smiled reassuringly, "I'm sure he'll be fine. This is Potter we're talking about."

I did nothing but smile back and distantly heard that the commentator announce that snitch had been caught. Using the chance to take my hand out from beneath Aubrey's I wondered why I hadn't felt a thing. Alice claimed that the first time Frank had held her hand she had felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Dorcas had said that when Diggory asked her to Hogsmeade, she had butterflies. She had been giddy beyond compare. But I hadn't felt any of that –

Marlene who had been sat on my other side, linked her arm through mine and told me that we were going down to the pitch to congratulate the Gryffindor team. When we were out of Aubrey's earshot, I was surrounded by the girls as they demanded to know what Aubrey had talked to me about. And when they found out that he was taking me to Hogsmeade, they had started to squeal about just how handsome the fifth year. I had to agree – he was handsome but clearly not enough to make me feel something. Was there something wrong with me?

We made it to the pitch when I found myself suddenly lifted off the ground in a hug.

"You reek of sweat," I protested even as I wrapped my arms around James' neck. He chuckled at my words but made no move to put me down. Instead, he began to spin me around. "James! I mean it; you stink. Stop it!"

He finally put me down, and his smile was contagious. I felt my heart begin to thump in my chest and my expression froze. Godric, no –

"Ward?" James called, seeing my turn in expression. He stepped closer to me, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," I assured with a shake of my head. Taking in a breath, I managed to get my heart back under control and smiled, "Good game, Potter."

"I told you wouldn't regret coming out to watch the game." He grinned down at me, waving vaguely to the team's seeker who patted his shoulder on his way past.

"I've watched every game since the beginning of the year," I reasoned, "All I wanted was a lie in."

"Well I wasn't going to let you miss a game I was playing in," he retorted, stepping forward to ruffle my hair. I stepped away from him, not willing to risk my heart playing up again. He frowned and went to say something when I pointed over his shoulder.

"It looks like Lily wants to say something to you –"

"Evans can wait," he insisted. "There's clearly something wrong with you –"

I found myself wondering if James still fancied Lily. He certainly hadn't asked her out since the first time but if he did, then what did that make me –

The thought horrified me so much that I staggered away from him. James reached out to steady me but I licked my lips and mumbled some rubbish about Sirius calling him before hurrying away. I spied Remus talking to Dorcas and Alice before he turned to get to the castle. Catching up to him, I linked my arm through his and engaged him in a random conversation to avoid having to sort my thoughts out.

When it was time for my date with Aubrey, I met the older boy in Hogsmeade and well, it was an enjoyable date. But there was something off. There were no sparks, no thumping in my chest and no butterflies. Aubrey must have shared my thoughts and we agreed to be nothing more than friends.

The next day however, I heard the news that Aubrey had been admitted to the hospital wing.. Apparently, James and Sirius had managed to hex him with a spell that made his head grow until it was twice its original size. Godric, I hoped the double detention they served was worth it.

* * *

 _FIFTH YEAR_

If there was one thing that I was thankful for ever since the 'marauders' were formed, it was that there were 4 of them. if there was only 3 of them, then chances were James would have somehow wrangled his way into sitting beside me during lessons. Merlin, it was bad enough that he always managed to snag the desk behind me. He could distract me throughout the entire lesson with ease. Who knows how bad it would've been if James managed to sit next to me.

He was always the worst during Charms because the bastard happened to be naturally talented at it and I wasn't. Just because he could afford to slack off during the class didn't mean that we all could. As the Charms lesson came to an end, I rose from my seat to pack my things. James was by my side in an instant, wrapping an arm around my shoulder to try and hurry me out of the classroom.

"Wait a minute," I protested, struggling to put my things away.

With a huff, I pushed James' arm away from me and turned back to my desk. Lily took one look at James, rolled her eyes and walked away. I had tried countless times to convince her that James wasn't as bad as she thought but she wasn't willing to listen to me. I guess it was the same way that she tried to convince me that Snape wasn't that bad and I had scoffed?

"What do you want James?" I asked after having packed all my stuff up.

"We need to hurry to the common room before all the good sofas are taken," he insisted.

"You go first Prongs," Sirius called out from behind us as he sauntered towards us, "I need to have a little word with Ward."

James was reluctant to leave but with Peter and Remus on either side of him, he was taken out of the classroom. I eyed the pair strangely, their movements seemed oddly planned. Were the three of them planning to prank James? Because if they were then I wanted no part of it. The last time the marauders had pranked each other, it led to an all-out war and I had been caught in the cross-fire _way_ too many times.

Once James was out of the room, Sirius gestured for me to walk before him. "You've been going on a lot of dates Ward."

I frowned; that was _not_ what I expected him to say to me. Scoffing, I muttered, "I really haven't."

"Hey," he raised his hands in surrender, "it's not like I can judge you. Especially when I do the same."

"Is there a point to this conversation?" I asked curiously, looking up at the taller boy as we turned the corner.

"We were wondering why you never of on more than one date with a bloke before dumping him," he said steadily, as if he was entitled to know the intimacies of my life.

"And how is that any of your business, Sirius?" Raising an eyebrow, I waited for his answer which would, no doubt, be stupid.

"Well, according to Remus you're using boys to try and get over James." I stilled. He had spoken the words so casually as if they meant nothing, as if they weren't my darkest secret.

"I'm going to kill Remus," I muttered under my breath, unable to bring my eyes to his.

"No, you're not," Sirius assured me, "He's your little confidant. All the secrets that you can't tell James are told to good old Moony."

"Well I won't be doing that anymore," I grumbled.

"Oh relax princess," he nudged me with his shoulder, "the only reason he told me was because I plied him with firewhisky during my 16th birthday party. Your secret is safe from Prongs and I doubt Moony remembers telling me."

"Godric, I should've listened to Lily when she told me that you boys were going to cause trouble for me."

"Well you're already in too deep." As we came to a stop in front of the Fat Lady, Sirius paused and asked, "Now, if you want to end all this rubbish then I'll help you."

"How?" I asked suspiciously.

"Rumour has it that Davis asked you to go to Hogsmeade with him this weekend?" I nodded, not seeing where he was going with this. "Did you say yes?"

"No," drawing out the word, I waited to see what he would say next. "It's the last Hogsmeade trip this year and I wanted to spend it with the girls."

"Go with me."

I shuffled awkwardly on my feet. " _Oh_ , about that – I'm sorry Sirius but you're _really_ not my type."

"You're not mine either," he assured me, "but trust me, this will all work in the long run."

I wasn't sure that it would.

When the Hogsmeade trip came around, I found myself filled with a new sense of dread. Was this a good idea? Godric, I knew going to Hogsmeade with Sirius would be nothing more than spending the day with a friend. But would other people see it like that? When I had talked to the girls about it, they had each given me their own warnings about being careful not to fall for Sirius in case he didn't fall back. I couldn't very well tell them the truth and had simply insisted that nothing of the sort would happen with Sirius.

And now, as I walked with my friends I couldn't shake the thought that this was a bad idea. We walked away from the carriages that had brought us into Hogsmeade, and I was certain that I wouldn't fall for Sirius. Not when simply walking by James' side gave me those butterflies that Alice raved about. Once we reached the small village, I waved goodbye to the girls who headed off together. James wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me after him and towards the three waiting boys.

"It's been a while since we've done this," he teased, looking down at me with a smile. "Did you get sick of going on dates with boys? I told you they're not worth your time."

"You should try dating James," I said with an exasperated eye roll, "at this rate you'll end up marrying your broom."

"Now why would I marry my broom when I've got you?"

He was teasing, of course he was, but my stupid heart wasn't seeing the truth. I pushed him away from he as I normally would. "Like I'd ever marry you, Potter."

"She's got a point Prongs," Sirius said as he came up behind me to take my arm, "Ward's going on a date with me today."

"Very funny." James rolled his eyes.

"It's true." At Sirius' insistence, the smile was wiped from James's face and he looked at me for confirmation. I nodded and his eyebrows rose in surprise.

"No way," he stepped forward, "No way in _hell_ are you –"

He was silenced by Remus who placed a hand over his mouth and gave me an apologetic smile. Remus and Peter took to either side of him and restrained James who was trying to follow me and Sirius as we headed into the Three Broomsticks.

Once we were inside pub, I glanced out the window to see James still being held by his two friends. James had never looked so betrayed and well, Remus and Peter were just playing their part in a plan that Sirius had put together. A plan I still had no knowledge of. Sirius let out a chuckle, shaking his head as he watched the scene.

"This better all be worth it for the hex he's going to send my way when we return to the castle."

I hadn't expected James to really hex his best friend.

* * *

James and Sirius weren't talking. Or rather _James_ wasn't talking to Sirius. Sirius was tolerating his childish behaviour with an indulgent smile. And because James wasn't talking to his best friend, he suddenly found himself with a lot of free time which he used to bug _me._ Merlin, before we had enrolled in Hogwarts, there weren't many other children for us to hang around with and so we'd spent a _lot_ of time together. But from the moment we entered Hogwarts, James had spent less time with me and more time with his dormmates. Godric it was a well needed respite.

Because of his current annoyance with Sirius, James was back to trailing after me. He had ollowed me into the library where I was sat, trying to complete my essay. I had joined Dorcas in a bid to avoid James. It clearly hadn't worked and his interrogation of me continued. I felt bad for Dorcas who was caught in the middle of James's annoying behaviour and was suffering through it all. Although, from the way she was paying rapt attention to us, I doubted she was suffering anything.

"James," I hissed when he pulled my essay towards him for the fifth time in a row. He gave me an innocent smile. Reaching across the table, I snatched my essay back, raising an eyebrow and daring him to take it from me again. "I'm not falling for that so you better stop it."

"I'm bored," he whined obnoxiously, not seeing the way the librarian was glaring at the back of his head.

"And who's problem is that? Who told you to start ignoring Sirius?"

"I don't want to talk about that." Rolling my eyes, I looked back to my essay, trying to remember how I was going to end the sentence I had left it on.

Realising that he didn't have my attention anymore, James began to chant my name annoyingly, volume slowly rising and falling as he alternated pitch each time. My hold on my quill tightened and I swore that I wasn't going to give him any of my attention. That had been my plan. But from the corner of my eye, I caught the exasperated glances that were being thrown towards our table. I couldn't let this go on.

"Fine," I snapped, straightening in my seat. "What the ruddy hell is your problem, Potter?"

James grinned, pleased that he had my attention. Sitting straight in his seat, he leaned towards me and kept his eyes on mine as he asked, "How was your date with Sirius?"

"Oh." I looked away from him, thinking carefully about how to answer his question. Dorcas abandoned her essay and gave up pretending that she wasn't listening to our conversation.

"So?" he prompted.

"It was the best date I've been on," I answered honestly. Of course, that was because it wasn't much of a date – it was just me hanging out with a good friend of mine.

James cleared his throat roughly and I looked back to him in surprise. "Are you going to go on another one?"

I watched as he looked away from me, studying the grains of the table top closely. How had Sirius known that James would eventually ask me that? When James looked hesitantly back at me, peering up at me from beneath his eyelashes, I realised that I hadn't answered his question.

"I might do," I said softly, answering just as Sirius said to.

He narrowed his eyes, raising his head to meet my eyes straight on. "You're not allowed to."

And just like that, his ridiculous words had shattered the quiet that surrounded our table. He'd even surprised Dorcas so much that she had gasped before coming to her senses and clearing her throat.

"I'm sorry," I said dangerously, "for a minute there I thought you were telling me what I can and cannot do. But that must be wrong because who the hell are you to tell me what I'm _allowed_ to do? Why is this any of your business?"

"This is my business," he insisted and I scoffed.

"Really?" I muttered unimpressed.

"Really." James swallowed thickly before rushing on to say, "If you're going to Hogsmeade with anyone then you're going with me."

It took a moment to realise what he meant and when I _did_ realise, I floundered for a second. He was still watching me, waiting for me to say something with that god-awful smirk on his face. And Merlin, if I was going to let him win in this situation, then he'd hold it over my head for the rest of our lives.

"Who says I want to go with you?" I threw back, raising an eyebrow.

James rose to his feet, pressing his palms against the table top. "Remus."

From beside me, Dorcas chuckled into her hands and I threw her a look which made her attempt to quiet down. It didn't work very well.

"Godric, I'm going to hex Remus," I muttered under my breath. "He's turned into such a blabber mouth."

James sounded far too pleased with himself as he remarked, "We're going on a date this summer. Term ends in a few days so you better be prepared, Ward."

Of all the arrogant –

Composing myself, I lifted my head to look at him. He was looking expectantly back at me, doing nothing to hide his amusement in how this situation had ended up. Godric, did he feel no embarrassment about the scene that he was causing in the middle of the library? Or was I the only one that was supposed to feel embarrassed here.

"I'm going to go out of my way to avoid you Potter."

"Try it love," he winked, preparing to leave the library. "But you're forgetting that our houses are connected by floo."

With those parting words, he turned to leave the library and as he faded out of view, I slumped in my seat. Only then did I realise just how much attention our spectacle had attracted. Merlin's beard, I was going to kill him.

Dorcas finally spoke up, turning her eyes to mine, "You two are unbelievable."

"Hey," I protested, "don't lump me with him."

"Oh please – you're just as bad."

* * *

Summer holidays meant it was time to sleep in and that was what I planned to do. When I finally made it down stairs, still dressed in my pyjamas with my hair piled at the top of my head, I could smell breakfast from the staircase. It seemed like everyone had decided to sleep in today. As delicious as the food at Hogwarts was, it didn't beat home cooked food.

I made my way to the dining table, hearing dad's voice as he talked to someone.

"Mum, what's – James Potter what the hell are you doing here?" I demanded, eyes wide as I looked at the boy sitting casually at the table with a stack of pancakes before him.

"James popped around early," Mum explained from her seat but I wasn't listening. Instead I watched James' eyes rake over me as a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. Clearing my throat, I folded my robe over my pyjamas, taking an empty seat at the table.

"But why is he here?" I looked pointedly away from James, running a self-conscious hand through my hair before remembering that I had tied it up.

"Apparently you've got plans?" Mum phrased the statement as a question, plating some pancakes onto my plate. "Golden syrup?"

"Yes please." Taking the bottle from her, I looked back to the intruder who was waiting for my acknowledgement. He was _far_ too amused with the situation he'd found me in. "We have plans?"

"We have a date," he reminded me and my mouth parted in shock.

Dad's eyes widened at James' words and he looked to mum who was busy hiding her smile behind her tea mug. Neither of them paid attention to the way I was glaring at the boy sat across from me.

"I didn't think you were serious about that," I protested, wanting to hex James for embarrassing me like this. Merlin, he went out of his way to embarrass me and if I had been of age then I would have hexed him.

"Of course I was being serious about it."

He gave me an innocent smile and I narrowed my eyes at him. Dad growing uncomfortable with the conversation decided to change the topic. He asked James about Gryffindor winning the house cip last year and James took the hint As he turned his head to look at dad, I glared at the side of his head. He was such a bloody troublemaker.

"You're going on a date with James?" mum asked quietly from my side.

"Of course not," I protested pointlessly.

"Whatever you say." She turned back to her breakfast with a secret smile.

Once we had finished our breakfast, I left James alone with my parents and headed up the stairs to change. By I was done, I found him waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with my parents nowhere in sight.

"Where are my parents?" I asked as I searched out my favourite pair of shoes.

He followed behind me, "They're round mine. Apparently, our dads are going to look over a potion recipe or something."

Merlin, they were complete nerds.

"Oh." Slipping my feet into my shoes, I leaned down to tie my laces. Peering up at him, I found him with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall as he watched me. "What?"

"Nothing," he said with a strange sort of smile. "Because I want you to enjoy this more than your date with Pads, I'm going to let you pick what we do today."

Shaking my head incredulously, I rose to my feet muttering, "I can't believe you're actually doing this."

"You know," he said, following after me as I walked into the sitting room, randomly straightening things out as I went. "I'd have thought you'd have been more pleased. I mean – all your pining over me is done."

I straightened up, turning to face him with a raised eyebrow. James smirked back at me and I scoffed, grabbing a cushion from the sofa to hit him over the head with it. He ducked out of the way, managing to avoid the swing. But he didn't manage to miss the second one. He reached out for me, trying to pry the cushion out of my hand as I continued to hit him with it.

"James Potter," I hissed, when he had the audacity to begin laughing at me. Merlin, I was beginning to laugh too, "You are the biggest pain in the ass."

"I'll kiss it better," he offered.

I gasped incredulously, struggling not to giggle as I pushed him away. "You have a filthy mind."

"You understood what I meant," he retorted through his chuckles, falling to the sofa beneath him and pulling me down with him. His laughter faded slowly and I grew quiet under his eyes. "Listen carefully Ward, I'm dying to kiss you so I'm just going to do it. Is that ok?"

I swallowed thickly, nodding slowly.

He grinned, arms coming around my waist to cradle me against his chest. He didn't give me a chance to regret my decision.

* * *

 _SIXTH YEAR_

James was a clingier boyfriend than I thought he would be and that was surprising. Godric, I had seen just how clingy he could be towards his friends so I sort of knew what to expect. But Merlin – the boy couldn't keep his hands to himself. If we happened to be together, one of his hands would casually reach out to run through my hair, to rest against the base of my neck, to hold my hand and so much more.

I had thought that because we were back in Hogwarts, maybe the amount of physical contact he appeared to need would be reduced. Clearly, I hadn't been thinking straight.

Throughout the welcoming feast alone, he had reached out to put his hand on top of my thigh at least a dozen times. I'd brought it up to him before – his need for physical contact – and he'd simply informed me that up until we had begun officially dating, it had taken a lot of restraint for him to stop himself from reaching out to me.

The boys had left the table before we had and I had watched Sirius force James from his seat so they could get to the common room. I had rolled my eyes and turned back to my meal. I knew why he was hanging around; on the train to Hogwarts, Sirius had mentioned that girls talk to their friends about their boyfriends, and so chances were by the end of the week the girls would know every detail of our relationship. James wanted to hang around and make sure that I wasn't telling them something that they didn't need to know.

And so, when we eventually left the Gryffindor table and made our way into the common room, we walked in to find the sixth-year boys lounging in front of the fireplace. James looked up at the sound of the portrait swinging open and gestured for me to walk towards him. I heard the girls begin to murmur behind me and decided against it; whatever James was planning to do they were only going to tease me about when we got to into our dorm. I went to walk past him.

But of course, James being James, wasn't going to let that happen. He reached out to grab my hand, pulling me back towards him and bringing me down onto his lap. Before I could ask him what he was doing, he leaned in to kiss me soundly as if we weren't in the middle of the common room, as if our friends weren't surrounding us. I remained frozen against him, refusing to respond until there was a sudden round of wolf whistles. Merlin, I was going to kill Sirius.

But, if we had the attention of the common room then there was no point in not doing this properly. I began to respond to James, reaching up to thread my fingers through his hair and hold him close to me. Growing breathless, I pulled back from him.

"What on earth are you playing at Potter?" I asked, licking my lips.

"Giving out a statement," he said with a lazy grin, reaching up to push my hair behind my ear. "Now no one else is going to try anything on you again."

He was smirking up at me and I shook my head in disbelief. "You're such a child."

"Maybe, but you love me anyway."

"Keep telling yourself that," I muttered, hitting his shoulder as I hopped off from his lap.

When I looked back out to the common room, most of the students pretended to get back to their own business. My friends, well, they didn't even bother to try. They simply marched over to me, pulled me away from James and forced me up the stairs to our dorm.

"I could tell something was different between the two of you during the train ride," Lily said before the dorm door had been closed behind us, "But when did _that_ happen?"

"Over summer," I explained quietly, heading towards my bed.

"Oh no you don't," Marlene said firmly, walking towards me, "the lead up to this has lasted for _years,_ we're not going to let you dismiss this so quickly."

"Don't you remember how the four of you interrogated _me_ when I got together with Frank?" Alice threw herself down on my bed, giving me a pointed glance, "There's no way we're not letting this pass without hearing every detail."

"Every embarrassing detail," Dorcas emphasised, sitting beside Alice.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked at the four girls who were now sat on my bed, looking expectantly up at me. They waited and I immediately regretted doing the same to them when they began to date someone. If only I had minded my own business back then, they'd have left me alone now.

"Fine," I sighed, "But it's a long story."

"Perfect." They shared a grin, "We've got all night."


	2. Epilogue: 4 Years Later

_4 YEARS LATER_

There were very few things that could make James Potter leave his bed in the middle of the night. But I felt it every time when he'd ease himself gently from the bed so as not to wake me. I'd turn in the bed, glancing over my shoulder to find him standing by the window, staring out into space. He was always like this around this time of the year.

Sitting up in bed, I reached over to switch the bedside lamp on and took a quick look at the time. It was always at 3:46 am and then only four days later I'd find him awake at exactly 2:34. He never had to tell me why he was always awake around this time in the night. After all, I had been by his side exactly 2 years ago when, at 3:46 we had received the news that his father had passed peacefully in his sleep.

James had been inconsolable, spending the day lamenting about how unworthy of a son he had been and how he had wanted to do so much more for his father. Sirius had reacted even worse to the news; Remus and Peter had found him passed out in a shady pub. It only ended when James, like Sirius, passed out after he became fatigued from crying all day. When he had made up his mind to get his mother on the experimental treatment, she too had passed and James had gone on a rampage, destroying parts our bedroom until the strength fled from his knees and he collapsed to the floor. I had gone to his side then, prying his wand from his shaking hand and holding him close to me.

I could still remember it, clear as day. The only words he spoke on the day his mother died, was a plea he made to me. He made me promise to never leave him and I did just that.

Folding the duvet back, I swung my feet over and onto the floor, toes curling in the cold winter breeze. I frowned, looking to the window which I then realised was open. Shaking my head slightly, I grabbed my wand and magicked the window shut. James came out of his thoughts then, at the absence of the chilly air. Casting the spell to activate the warming charms of the house, I watched as James pressed his hands to the window sill, bowing his head as he let out a deep breath.

Rising from the bed, I crossed the short distance to where he was standing. James, so lost in his thoughts, had no idea that I was awake and I watched as he rubbed at his eyes, glasses discarded carelessly to the side. Approaching him carefully, I wrapped my arms around him from behind, pressing my cheek to his back.

The contact was enough to bring him from his daze. He turned in my arms, hands coming up to rub at them. "What are you doing awake? It's cold."

"I'm not the one that was standing in front of the open window," I pointed out watching as his features clouded over. Removing my hand from his waist, I brought one up to his face, watching him nuzzle into it.

"I couldn't sleep," he murmured, turning his head to press a kiss to my palm.

"You don't need to explain anything," I reminded him gently.

"I'm sorry –"

"Don't apologise, James." Anything I could have gone on to say was dismissed at the sound of a sharp cry from over the baby monitor.

James brushed past me quickly, walking out of our room and towards the nursery. I followed after him and watched from the doorway as he picked up Harry who blinked tearfully at him.

"What's wrong buddy?" James said the words quietly, lips pressed against Harry's hair. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Harry, as if he was capable of understanding each of his father's emotions, just burrowed himself against his father's shoulder. James took a deep breath of Harry, letting the familiar smell of talcum powder soothe him. Not that he would ever let him admit it, but this week – the week within which both his parents died – was incredibly difficult for James and he'd cling to whatever he found calming. It was during this week that whichever part of the house I was in, I knew that James would be there with Harry cradled in his arms.

He had been so terrified that we'd lose Harry, that something would happen to us because of the prophecy. He was so scared of being left alone. And when I had gone into labour in the middle of the night on July 31st, I didn't blame James for watching the clock. I didn't mention that when the clock ticked past 12 and it was officially August 1st, that I had physically watched the tension ease out of his body. I especially didn't mention that, when Harry had been born and James had held him, I knew the tears had been grateful tears, shed because our son was safe. Our family was safe.

Whilst we had rejoiced at the news, others hadn't received such good news. The Snapes and the Longbottoms had gone into hiding. We hadn't heard from our friends since the birth of their sons, five months ago.

"I think he's hungry," James said, turning to look over his shoulder at me, frowning when he saw how deep in thought I was. "Love?"

"It's nothing," I assured him, stepping into the room and settling into the rocking chair in the corner. James handed our son to me who was growing fussy from hunger. "Harry James Potter, so impatient. Just like your father."

"Hey," James protested, watching as I unbuttoned the top of my pyjamas and holding Harry against my chest. He began to suckle, cries dying instantly. "Name one thing that I was impatient about."

"Proposing," I said instantly. Leaning back in the chair, I watched him cross his arms defensively. "How many times did you propose to me in seventh year? Since the moment we both turned 18?"

He made a face, turning his eyes away from me and completely missing the grateful breath I let out. As the years went on, James was becoming better as handling his grief.

"If you didn't want to marry me then you didn't have to say yes," he grumbled.

"You're so sensitive," I teased, "besides, when did I say I didn't want to marry you?"

I could still remember the last conversation I'd had with my later mother-in-law. She had been bedridden and told me that she knew she would soon leave us to be with her husband forever. She had taken my hand in hers and told me she could pass easily because she knew her son wasn't alone.

"Did you hear from Sirius?" James asked after a moment. Harry, now with his stomach full, began to fall asleep again. Reaching out for his son, James began to burp him as I buttoned up my top.

"Remus has gotten rid of all the alcohol in the house, Sirius hasn't had a single drop," I confessed, watching as James rocked Harry to sleep. "Apparently he's doing better this year."

"That's good." James swallowed thickly, falling silent as he murmured, "That's good."

Standing up, I approached my husband, pressing a hand to the centre of his back. He looked curiously down at me before pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Should we take Harry to meet his grandparents?" I suggested quietly, knowing James would want to visit their grave. "We can bring the boys and go as a family if you want?"

He smiled softly, "I'd like that."


End file.
